When the first Galaxy Note launched, everyone was reasonably skeptical. Was the world ready for such a large phone? Turns out, yep. So now, it would be expected for more carriers to want in on the action. Cue Sprint, stage left. One curious XDA member started poking around in some Sprint documents and found reference to one "SPH-L900." We know SPH is a designation Sprint uses for its Samsung phones (Galaxy Nexus is SPH-L700, Galaxy S III is SPH-L710, etc.), but the L900 is brand new.

T-Mobile got into the phablet game a little late when it released the Galaxy Note back in early August. Then, some three weeks later, all traces of the giant Samsung phone inexplicably disappeared from T-Mo's site, and third-party retailers were "out of stock." The latter incident lead us to believe one thing: T-Mobile was canning the original Note and would be getting the Note II soon after it launches in the U.S.

Just two short days ago, Samsung unveiled the massive Galaxy Note 2 at IFA in Berlin. They briefly showed off some new features of the Note II, like Air View and various note-taking and image editing tweaks. Still, this left anyone who may be interested in this next-gen phablet wanting more.

And now you've got it.

Samsung just released a note-tastic 13 minute video detailing several new features of the Note II, including the video player and Gallery applications, Air View, the ability to natively record the screen, and so much more.

When Samsung announced the Galaxy Note II yesterday, they made no mention of regional or carrier availability. While we here in the States can speculate which carriers will get this next-gen phablet, it really is just a crapshoot right now.

For those who want to keep up with the latest on the Note II in the US, though, Samsung has opened up a sign up page. In theory, this will keep users privy to the Note's US availability and carrier launch information.

One of the highlights of Samsung's Galaxy Note II announcement at IFA yesterday was the increased functionality carried by the device's hallmark S Pen stylus. The Note II's version of the Pen, besides being "ergonomically designed for the perfect grip," allows users to quickly clip, crop, and edit screen content, adding further illustration and handwritten keyword recognition. The Pen now also features a unique "hover" functionality, whereby an app can recognize that the Pen is near the screen and react accordingly with contextual menus or other activities.

Mystery. Magic. Oversized phones and cameras running Android. If these are things that make you happy, then Samsung's Mobile Unpacked event from today will be the best hour and half you can spend staring at your computer's screen (short of reading AP, of course). And just in case you weren't able to catch the live stream during the event today, Sammy has now made the entire thing available online.

Now you can see first hand what happens when Samsung, a couple of magicians, and and MC who talks louder than everyone else get together.

PocketNow has gotten its hands on what very much look like some leaked press images (and specification details) of the Galaxy Note II, which is expected to be announced in just about an hour. First, to the pictures:

The specifications have basically lined up with a lot of what has been rumored already, including:

The existence of the successor to Samsung's surprise hit Galaxy Note is hardly a secret. And if they're going to display it anywhere, it'll be at the IFA in Berlin, where the original was first shown off last year. It looks like Sammy is done with subtle insinuations (not to mention tablet adaptations) and is ready to formally tease us: they've posted the first video for their Unpacked event at the show later this month.

We've been hearing rumors of the Galaxy Note 2 for several weeks now, and a pretty believable image of the device has now made its way onto the net ahead of Samsung's August 29th event where we fully expect the device to be announced.